Tim Tebow gives Arch Manning advice amid pressure at Texas: 'Remember the love of the game'

As he prepared for his first full season as Texas’ starting quarterback, Arch Manning drew comparisons to Tim Tebow. It wasn’t for on-field achievements, though, but rather for the amount of attention and expectations for the Longhorns quarterback entering 2025.

Tebow entered his senior year at Florida in 2009 with sky-high expectations after winning a national championship and the Heisman Trophy earlier in his career. He was also the talk of the college football world as swarms of reporters waited to speak with him throughout the year.

Through three games in 2025, the pressure is mounting around Manning and Texas amid an up-and-down start to the year. Tebow has been watching and offered his advice for the former top recruit.

“I would encourage him,” Tebow said Thursday on The Rich Eisen Show. “‘Man, you’re a gifted player. You are a really good player. You just need to be encouraged. Remember, for love of the game.’ He’s at a location right now with great coaches, great players around him. There’s just a lot of pressure. The pressure’s real. And it’s hard to sometimes explain that to people, and one of the easier examples I would try to use is look at the PGA Tour or LIV Golf. When they show up on Thursday and they’ve had practice rounds, look at the scores. But then, look at the scores on the same course on Sunday. What’s the difference? You’ve played it more. The only difference is it’s Sunday pressure. That just gives an example [of] how pressure’s real.

“So I’d just encourage him, remember the love of the game and play for it. You don’t have to make every play. You don’t have to be perfect. I have really appreciated the way he’s carried himself for three years now. I’ve appreciated the way that he’s handled it as a teammate with Quinn [Ewers] and when he took over, the way he’s handled even some of the disappointments. I think he’s a great example of someone that has handled hype and criticism. He hasn’t pointed fingers. He’s just handled it really well.”

Tim Tebow: ‘It was probably advice I needed a lot’

As he entered his senior year at Florida, Tim Tebow already had a decorated resume. He was part of two national championship teams, including in 2008 when he won the title game’s MVP, and a Heisman Trophy winner. He also had a Davey O’Brien Award, Manning Award and AP College Football Player of the Year on his resume.

As a result, Tebow became the biggest star in the game. But it also meant seemingly everyone talked about him – whether it was a good game or a bad game. With that in mind, he encouraged Arch Manning to avoid listening to it and focus on his teammates. It’s something Tebow wished he heard when he played.

“I’d just say one, I’m proud of the way he’s handled it,” Tebow said. “But also, try to block that out and remember how much you love the game. Yeah, people will keep talking. There will be praise and there’ll be criticism. Maybe, the praise is sometimes off the charts and criticism is, too. And it’s usually somewhere in between. Just try to block it out, love the game, love your teammates, enjoy it. It was probably advice I needed a lot, especially my senior year because we weren’t just playing against the team we played. We were also playing against what we had done in the past and the hype or the criticism of it.

“I needed to be reminded. And I should have done a better job of trying to keep that in perspective and just handle it and remember how much I love this game and my teammates and how much I disliked the rivals. Just remember the love of the game – the game that I grew up running into the yard and couldn’t wait to go throw, and every commercial break, I would run and go dive and score a touchdown before I ran back in. Remember that.”

‘I’d just try to understand it’

But the love for the sport, Tim Tebow said, is important to keep in perspective. That’s especially the case in Arch Manning’s case considering his high profile and just how many people recognize him when he goes out. While he can confide in his Hall of Fame family, Tebow pointed out just how different Manning’s situation is as he stars in commercials for Warby Parker, Vuori and more companies through NIL.

“I think that is just so important, especially when he can’t go walk anywhere or get outside of it,” Tebow said. “That’s different.

“It’s hard, sometimes, for people to understand if you can’t walk anywhere, you can’t really talk to anybody about it because who do you trust? Who do you have? He has this awesome family. But it’s just different. I think I’d just try to understand it and have, I think, just a level of understanding and a level of compassion for where he’s at.”